Robots for Nurses

With predicted deficits in the nursing workforce and an increasing focus on positive patient experiences and outcomes, robotics specialists are stepping in to create solutions. Here are a few recent and pending inventions to assist nurses.

Save Time on Vitals

In just 3 minutes, the Belgian company BeWell’s self-service kiosk “WellPoint” can take a patient’s weight, vitals, and enter the data directly into the hospitals EMR. Compare this to the 7 minutes it takes for a nurse to take a patient’s initial vitals, plus additional time to enter those vitals into the EMR.

For $8,800 a year nurses can say goodbye to tedious forms & time consuming menial tasks, and hello to connecting with patients for a better recovery. BeWell is looking to include sugar levels for diabetes patients in the future.

Reduce the Risk of Infectious Disease

Duke’s School of Nursing and School of Engineering have worked together to build Trina, a robot designed to reduce the risks caused by caring for patients with infectious disease. Trina is a remote-controlled robot who is capable of taking vital signs and performing housekeeping tasks. Trina could save lives without risk of exposure in disease crisis like Ebola.

Delegate Heavy Lifting

Riken-Tri Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research has designed a bear-like robot to take over the heavy lifting for nurses.RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) has high-accuracy tactile sensors and strong arms that lift and move patients from wheelchair to bed, or visa-versa. Since the max tested weight for RIBA is 134lbs, and the average American weighs 171lbs, RIBA still has a way to go to help nurses transport patients.

Medical Round Support

Ryosuke Tasaki and Kazuhiuko Terashima have cooperated to develop “Terapio,” a robot that replaces the conventional medical cart. “Terapio” is automated to pass out medicine, and record vitals. With Terapio, Nurses can focus on interacting with patients to provide the compassionate, knowledgeable care that patients need to recover.